POSTED BY Carolyn Kenniston How many times a day do you hear the phrase “Google it”? Whether it be researching a potential restaurant or potential date, people are using Google to get information on a broad spectrum of topics. But what happens when lawyers use Google to search potential jurors during the voir dire process? In… Read More “Googling” Jurors During Voir Dire: Helpful or Harmful?
POSTED BY Veronica LaClair On Friday, October 17, 2014, the newest breaking news heading scrolled across my television – “Report: ISIS has three warplanes.” Like most news headlines, which are short and broad, this headline captured my interest and had me staying tuned-in to learn more. Like any organization, the terrorist group ISIS is… Read More ISIS Crisis Takes to the Sky
POSTED BY Natasha Meserve The Drug Enforcement Agency has used a fake Facebook profile to gather information for a criminal drug investigation and is currently being sued by a woman for using pictures taken from her cellphone. This past week, the Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) used a woman’s cellphone pictures to create a fake Facebook… Read More First Amendment Issues In DEA-Use Of Fake Facebook Profile
POSTED BY Alexandra Lowe In 1994, Police Chief William Bratton introduced computer-driven performance management to policing. This data-focused management model, originally known as CompStat, is credited with introducing the concept of “predictive policing” to law enforcement and crime fighting. CompStat and other similar programs synthesize close to real-time crime data in order to identify criminal… Read More Big Brother?
POSTED BY Sardiaa Leney Since the passage of the Hatch-Waxman provisions 30 years ago, a fairly orderly market in generic small molecule drugs has developed, reducing the cost of some of the commonest medicines to a fraction of their pre-competition price points. Biologics medicines are another matter. Biologics are drugs comprising molecules so complex that… Read More Grandma Could Afford Her Arthritis Medication…If She Lived In Europe
POSTED BY Mayra Neimerck Innovators are revolutionizing the U.S. pay-television market. If you could get your TV over the Internet and have access to all your favorite shows, without a cable or satellite subscription fee, what would you do? Just about any person would choose to cut the cord. The term cord-cutters refers to people… Read More Post-Aereo: Where does that Leave Cord-Cutters?
POSTED BY Carolyn Kenniston While video conferencing is not a new technology, it is for the Rappahoannock-Shenandoah-Warren Regional Jail in Virginia (“Jail”), which just began using the teleconferencing system to allow inmates to handle minor matters with the court. In August 2014, the Jail began to use such practice and the reviews have thus far been… Read More Virginia Court Installs Video Conferencing System in Regional Jail
POSTED BY Meghan Bonk A recent BBC news article reported that Twitter has initiated a lawsuit against the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, alleging a free speech violation in relation to surveillance. Attorneys for Twitter claim that the suit was brought as an incentive for the government to be… Read More Social Media Spies: The Problem with Government Surveillance Regulations on Twitter
POSTED BY Sardiaa Leney Recently, whistleblowers in ‘qui tam’ actions have claimed that medical devices and drugs with defects in manufacturing or compliance with applicable regulations supplied into government-funded health care programs are actionable under the Federal False Claims Act (FCA). A recent judgment in a long-running medical device suit in the District of Massachusetts… Read More How Much Trouble Can You Get Into For Selling Goods to the Government?
POSTED BY Nicole Cocozza “Most companies, when they’re doing good, they enjoy today’s wonderful life. They don’t worry about five years from later – but I worry about five years later.” ~Jack Ma The preceding quote is the philosophy behind the creator of the new global e-commerce company, Alibaba. Over the past month, this global… Read More Will Alibaba be Triumphant in the Global E-commerce Market?
POSTED BY Natasha Meserve Recently, Google, the famous search engine, has dealt with international issues, notably with its Autocomplete feature. This serious issue might potentially hold Google accountable for libel lawsuits regarding certain companies and people. More specifically, ones that are searched for and have certain potentially libelous words associated with its name. Google’s Autocomplete… Read More Potential Libel Action Against Google For The Autocomplete Feature
POSTED BY Michael O’Brien Ever wonder where your Snaps go once they have been viewed? Most assume that they are immediately deleted and gone forever, allowing themselves to take pictures and videos they otherwise never would have taken. However, with subpar security and third-party services such as the popular Android app SnapSave, users could have… Read More Stop: Should You Really be Sending that Snap?
POSTED BY Marion Goodsell Tax inversions predominated media coverage throughout the summer giving voice to those opposed to the 35 percent U.S. corporate tax rate, and to those decrying the dearth of economic patriotism. From the later group, there were calls for congressional action; however, in July, Harvard Law Professor Steven Shay pointed out that regulation… Read More Tax Aversion
POSTED BY Emily O’Toole In 2013, the District Court of the United States issued two conflicting decisions about whether or not the bulk collection of U.S. citizens’ telephone metadata, in light of advances in technology, violates the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. The Fourth Amendment protects citizens “against unreasonable searches and seizures” of their persons,… Read More A Split Decisions Leaves the Constitutionality of Telephone Metadata Collection an Unanswered Question
What do you do for lodging when you are going to visit a new place? If you are like most people, you may go onto a booking website like Expedia or call a hotel directly. Either way, you’ll end up in some hotel for a reasonable price. Since 2008, Airbnb has been offering the traveling… Read More Airbnb Presents a Challenge to Balance Regulation Against Innovation
POSTED BY Philip Kachajian The critically acclaimed electronic music artist Deadmau5 has lawyered up in response to a trademark infringement suit launched by media giant Disney, which believes that Deadmau5’s signature mouse-head logo is too similar to their own. Not to be outdone by Disney’s suit, counsel for the artist have filed a cease and… Read More Of Mice and Lawsuits, Disney and Deadmau5 Square Off Over Likeness Usage and Copyright Infringement
POSTED BY Anthony Gatto In a recent CNN story, it was reported that Eric Snowden leaked classified information to the press regarding a United States National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance program titled “PRISM” which allows the NSA to gather information from such global giants as Microsoft, Facebook, Google, and others. Additionally, in a recent USA Today… Read More What to Know About Your Constitutional Rights to Data Privacy
POSTED BY Jessica Gonzalez On September 16th 2014, the Consumer Review Freedom Act of 2014 (the Act) was assigned to a congressional committee for approval. If approved, this Act would prohibit businesses from adding “non-disparagement” clauses to contracts consumers have to sign. In other words, businesses would not be able to fine or penalize those… Read More A Consumer’s Right to Write—Defending Freedom of Speech For Online Reviews
POSTED BY Andrew Glenny Two Judges in Ohio have recently decided that the license applications of people applying to become drivers for Uber and Lyft shall be kept secret to protect the companies’ trade secrets. The decision has been controversial amongst competing businesses, such as local taxi cab companies. Uber and Lyft are taxi services… Read More Uber and Lyft Licenses Deemed Trade Secrets
POSTED BY Alex Zamenof Earlier this year, Netflix and Comcast announced a special arrangement that the two have entered into: namely, that Netflix streaming will be faster for people who have Comcast as their ISP. In a recent article, I found a fantastic description that breaks down exactly how video traffic on the internet works:… Read More Netflix Refuses ISP Restrictions
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